


you've got it bad

by angstandcaffeine



Category: Friends at the Table (Podcast)
Genre: FatT NBslash Exchange, Other, pre-miracle
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-07
Updated: 2018-09-07
Packaged: 2019-07-07 22:54:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15917937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angstandcaffeine/pseuds/angstandcaffeine
Summary: Some good old fashioned ground game fluff, for @snitchnightly! Featuring Dad Friend Even, Stubborn Echo, and Not As Oblivious As He Looks Grand.





	you've got it bad

It’s quiet. Not the too-still quiet of a night on watch that Echo hates, though. It’s the peaceful quiet of the morning, where the sun has just peeked up over the canyon. Nobody else is awake yet. They enjoy this routine they’ve set up while staying with Janie and Surge: a cup of coffee, a morning warm-up, some breakfast. Usually they’re the first one awake, followed soon after by Even. Gig and Grand would wake up anytime between nine and two.

This time, Even was already awake, sitting at the kitchen table. He swiped in the air at something Echo couldn’t see. “Morning,” he said quietly. “I made coffee.”

“Thanks,” Echo said. They grabbed a cup and sat across from him, sipping and slowly waking up. “Whatcha doing?”

“Working on a report,” Even explained. “The Fleet wants more info on the how the Amp Runner fares against Quire tech.”

“And?” Echo asked. “What are you telling them?”

“That it works great? Because it does. Grand Mag did an excellent job.”

“Yeah, he’s pretty good at that mech stuff.”

Even peered over his work (probably). “Yes, he is,” he said slowly.

Echo looked up from their coffee. “Why are you being weird?”

“You just openly complimented Grand Magnificent.”

In an instant, Echo could feel every defense mechanism in their body switch on at once. “Yeah? He’s competent at his job? I guess? So what?”

“Nothing,” Even said, dismissing the subject. Echo tried to ignore Even’s weirdness, but after a moment he spoke again. “It’s just, you know, I feel like the only things you’ve said about Grand since we’ve been down here have been… kind of rude.”

That took Echo by surprise. “Excuse me?”

“You know, sometimes when we’re stressed out or nervous or whatever, we say things we don’t mean.”

Echo’s eyes narrowed. “I give Grand shit when he deserves it. Not my fault if that happens constantly.” 

Even laughed. “That’s fair. But you know, sometimes it’s easier to say the snarky remark than what we actually want to say.” He gave Echo a look.

“I don’t know what you’re trying to get at here, Even, but I feel like I should probably tell you to fuck off.”

“All right, all right,” Even said, dropping the subject and returning to his work.

***

“Um,” Grand called out. “Can somebody help me?”

Echo looked over from their corner of the clearing, where they had all been cleaning up the debris from the fight. Grand seemed to have bit off way more than he could chew. He had tried to break a piece of plating off of an otherwise useless wing stuck in a tree, but instead the whole thing threatened to collapse on top of him. 

Echo rolled their eyes. This was the third time something like this had happened today. “Coming.” They walked over, not in too much of a hurry. Grand squirmed underneath the weight. 

“All right, what did you get yourself into this time?” Echo said, examining the wing.

“I know, I’m stuck again.” Grand had a sheepish grin on his face. As much as they’d hate to admit it, Grand looked kind of adorable like that- blushing just a little, unintentionally showing off the fact that his arms were much more toned than Echo would have expected. Echo avoided eye contact, trying not to think about that. 

“Okay, slowly hand the wing off to me.” 

“Are you sure? It’s really heavy.”

“And I’m really strong. I got it.” Echo took the weight from Grand, placing their hands where his had been. It was super heavy, but Echo was smart as well as strong, gently taking the whole wing down. Maybe it was just their imagination, but it felt like Grand was watching with admiration as they did it.

“Thanks,” Grand said, and without missing a beat, walked directly over to another giant robot scrap that he wouldn’t be able to pick up.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Echo followed, feeling Even watch them from across the way. “If you couldn’t lift that, this is going to be way too heavy for you.”

“Then help me,” Grand said.

Echo spluttered. “No,” they said. “You can’t lift this, you have no upper body strength and terrible form. C’mon, leave this to the rest of us.”

“No, I want to help. Handling the technology of this planet is giving me so many ideas.”

Echo sighed. “Grand, you’re just going to get hurt.” More emotion bled into their voice than they had intended, and they prayed Grand wouldn’t notice. 

A look passed across his face, but Echo couldn’t tell what kind. Shit. “All right,” he agreed, hands in the air. He walked back to the garage, looking back at Echo only once.

Even walked to Echo, arms full of tech. “You should tell him how you feel.”

Echo turned away, busying themself with separating out wires. “Didn’t I already tell you to fuck off?”

“I don’t want to bug you or push you, Echo. But there’s no reason to keep things inside just because you’re afraid of expressing them.”

A moment of silence passed between them. Then, finally, Echo spoke. “He’s such a dick.”

Even laughed. “But?”

“He has this way of looking at you, where you feel like he can just look past everything, every defense you’re putting up, every distraction that other people get fixated on, until he finds a nugget of something within you that no one else has noticed and pulls it out into the light. And he just yanks it out there. And it’s fucking scary, but it’s also, just,” Echo took a breath. “Just really, really nice.”

“Yeah,” Even said, smiling a little. “You’ve got it bad.”

Echo elbowed him. “Shut up.”

***

It’s late, and at this point, Echo only half remembered what they said to get Grand so worked up. At this point, it’s easy to do. They’ve learned how to push his buttons. Honestly, most of the time it’s because Grand said something so outrageous that Echo couldn’t just leave it alone. But sometimes, like tonight, Echo winds Grand up by accident. Whoops.

They stayed at the table after dinner to talk about their plans for the Sculpture, but somehow Grand turned the conversation into an argument that Echo didn’t understand. They’ve been trying to listen to what he’s saying, honest, but when he brought up “the potential post-Mirage genre his art could create,” Echo was completely gone. Instead, even though they’d never admit it, Echo is just watching. Watching the legs of a mech peek out from under the rolled-up sleeve of his flannel. Watching his eyes brighten as he makes a point, regardless of whether the point is actually good or not. Watching his lips as they-

“Echo.”

“Sorry, what?” Echo dragged themself back to the present.

Grand smirked, evidently believing that he had outsmarted Echo. “It’s okay if you don’t know what I’m talking about. This is very high-concept stuff.”

“Does your narcissism ever turn off? Fuck.”

“Hey, I think it’s fair to assert that I have a higher level of knowledge about my life’s work than you do.”

“Just because it’s true doesn’t mean you should say it. Or did you miss that day in kindergarten?”

“Truth is the purest form of communication we have.”

Echo snorted. “I can think of a better form.”

“Oh yeah?”

Echo wasn’t expecting him to call their bluff. But he leaned forward, hand resting on his chin, a devious glint in his eye. Shit. “What is it?” Grand dared, already knowing the answer.

Well. Echo was never good at letting a challenge go. So they surged forward and kissed him, letting themself be desperate. Grand reciprocated immediately, catching Echo’s face in his hand. They stayed like that, pressed together over the table, for a minute, and until Grand pulled away to catch his breath.

“I’ve been wondering when you were going to do that,” he whispered.

“So why didn’t you?”

Grand shrugged. “I didn’t want to make that choice for you.” He grinned. “Plus, it’s been fun watching you get flustered.”

“You’re insufferable.” Echo pulled Grand onto their lap. “Come here and kiss me.”

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for the great prompts! it was so much fun to revisit the quire party
> 
> you can find me on twitter @angstcaffeine


End file.
